Resolution
by Blue Lilys
Summary: Harry is now living with Sirius and Remus and for the first time in his life is unconditionally and irrevocably happy. But dark forces beyond their control are at work; attempting to pull them apart. With the help of his family, Harry must face a challenge more daring and deadly than ever before. Can they overcome all the evil that Harry's fourth year holds? Sequel to Recollection.
1. Chapter 1: A Bad Beginning

_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good…_

* * *

"_Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it."_

* * *

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was replaced by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets, rattling along the house-tops, and beating down on the already peeling window ledges. It is in London that our scene lies and a boy named Harry Potter was being denied sleep by the brutal storm raging outside his bedroom window.

Harry Potter, after an extremely eventful third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was staying at Grimmauld Place with Sirius and Remus. Grimmauld Place was the ancestral home of the Black family, located on a muggle street in London. It was where the three of them would be staying until the press regarding Sirius's release from Azkaban died down.

Grimmauld place was an extraordinarily large house. In fact, Harry thought that the whole of number 4 Privet Drive could fit inside it quite comfortably and still have room for three more. Although the house was big, no one was thrilled with having to stay there. Just being inside the house made Sirius depressed, (he didn't run away from it at sixteen for no good reason,) and even though he liked having Remus and Harry there with him, he couldn't wait until they were finally able to leave.

Turning over in bed, Harry checked his alarm clock for the sixth time that night. An hour seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye because the clock now read 6am. Knowing that he would not sleep that night, Harry c limbed out of bed and pulled on his Gryffindor coloured dressing gown, before slowly opening the heavy wooden door and tiptoeing down the stairs.

When he entered the kitchen he was not surprised to find Remus sitting at the table, nursing several nasty looking cuts.

"Full moon last night?" Harry stated, not really expecting an answer.

"Yeah, I've just changed back," Remus replied, sounding drained.

Harry went to sit opposite him, watching Remus out of the corner of his eye as he poured himself some orange juice from the jug in front of him.

"Here let me," he said, walking over to Remus and helping him patch up a large cut on his forehead.

"I thought the wolfsbane potion was supposed to stop you from hurting yourself."

"It is," Remus answered, "But sometimes you hurt yourself by accident. The wolf in me isn't exactly merciful."

"Are there ever times when you just want to … give up?"

"Of course there is," Remus replied. "I used to feel like that all the time when I was younger. Not so much now, but …" He trailed off.

"Have you slept at all tonight, Harry?" Remus asked, his voice a mixture of sternness and concern.

"No. I have the storm to thank for that I guess." Harry answered honestly.

"You should go to bed, Harry. You're going to be exhausted."

"I might try and sleep in a minute," Harry said, stepping away from Remus after he'd finished patching him up.

"Thank you," Remus said, gesturing to the now clean cut. "Is Sirius still sleeping?"

"Yeah, I … hold on. I thought he spent the full moons with you."

"He normally does but he was sleeping last night and I didn't want to wake him up." Remus explained.

"You should have told me, I would have sat with you," Harry scolded lightly.

"Harry, we've been over this. It's too dangerous. What if for some reason the potion didn't work? What it I hurt you?" Remus questioned.

"That wouldn't happen," Harry argued, "You're just being paranoid."

"Well can you blame me, Harry? I don't think I'd ever forgive myself if I turned you into a monster like me."

"You are not a monster," Harry began gently, "I've met monsters. Monsters do what they do out of choice. You don't."

"Thank you, Harry. You're very kind," Remus said, a slight catch in his voice. "A trait you share with your parents in that regard. They didn't conform with the prejudice against …. people like me, either."

"Well I don't blame them. All this 'all werewolves are dangerous thing' is ridiculous. You just have a – a problem-"

Harry was unexpectedly cut off when Remus started to laugh. When he'd controlled himself he began to explain his brief moment of hysteria to the bemused looking boy who was sitting across from him.

"Sorry, it's just that your dad used to call it my 'furry little problem.' People were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit," he explained as he began to laugh again. This time though, Harry joined in.

Their laughter was cut off as a sleepy looking Sirius stumbled into the kitchen.

"For God's sake, you two could wake the dead!" He exclaimed, practically falling into his chair.

From the dishevelled look of his Godfather's day clothes, Harry could tell that he had slept in them.

"Sirius, have you been drinking?!" Remus demanded, looking stern.

"Of course not," Sirius said. But from the aroma of stale alcohol that was about him and from the way his words slurred slightly, Harry knew that he was lying and he also had the feeling that his Godfather was still drunk from the night before.

Remus, also not fooled, angrily said, "Don't lie to me! What kind of example do you think you are setting for Harry?!"

Harry suddenly felt very uncomfortable. His discomfort was increased tenfold when Sirius turned to him and asked, "You don't mind do you, Harry?"

Harry didn't answer. Luckily, he was saved by Remus.

"Go upstairs, Harry," he said.

As Harry ascended the staircase to his room, he could hear the sounds of Remus and Sirius arguing and paused on the top of the stairs to listen.

"_You need to pull yourself together, Sirius. You're not a teenager anymore; you are a man in your thirties so start behaving like it!" Remus shouted._

"_Oh, lighten up, Remus," Sirius slurred. _

"_I can't afford to, Sirius," Remus ranted, "I've got Harry to look after!"_

Harry heard the sound of a slamming door and before he had the chance to move, Remus had appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He looked up at Harry and the teenage boy half expected the man to be angry with him for eavesdropping. But Remus didn't look angry.

He gave Harry a small, loving smile before saying, "Go and try to sleep, Harry. I'll come and check on you in a moment."

Harry looked at the man for just a moment longer before turning around and heading for his room.

As he laid down on the bed his only thought was,_ another horrible start to another horrible day at Grimmauld Place. _


	2. Chapter 2: The Nightmare

When Harry woke up, it was to the feeling of long fingers cascading through his hair and the slight burn of his scar. He had just had the most awful dream. Voldemort was in it and it was like no dream Harry had ever had before.

* * *

_Dream:_

_An old man, the caretaker, paused outside the heavy wooden door, open just a crack. He peered through._

_The small, shrunken form of Wormtail was cowering in the corner, as a tall young man spoke to something in the armchair._

_From the armchair came a ghostly, menacing voice._

_"One more murder...my faithful servant at Hogwarts...Harry Potter is as good as mine. It is decided. There will be no more argument. But quiet...I think I hear Nagini..."_

_The thing in the chair started making noises that the old caretaker had never heard before; he was hissing and spitting without drawing breath. _

_From behind the caretaker, a large snake slithered beneath his feet and into the room._

_After a moment more of hissing, the cold voice switched abruptly to English again. _

_"Nagini has interesting news, Wormtail," it said. _

_"In-indeed, My Lord?" said Wormtail. _

_"Indeed, yes," said the voice, "According to Nagini, there is an old Muggle standing right outside the door."_

_The caretaker didn't have a chance to hide himself. There were footsteps and then the door of the room was flung wide open. _

_The short, balding man with greying hair, a pointed nose, and small, watery eyes stood before Frank, a mixture of fear and alarm in his face._

"_Kill him!" the voice screeched. _

_At this, Harry knew that it was Voldemort. Memories from his first year flashed before him as Wormtail raised his wand and spoke the curse._

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_A flash of green light._

_Harry's scar burned._

_The man was gone._

* * *

Harry felt dried tears on his cheeks as he slowly opened his eyes, settling them on Remus, who was looking at him worriedly.

"You were having a nightmare," Remus stated, removing his hand.

Harry was a little upset by the loss of comfort but sat up and nodded anyway.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Remus asked, as Harry pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them.

"Voldemort was in it," Harry said after a pause. "And Wormtail and another man I didn't recognise. They were talking about a faithful servant at Hogwarts and …." Harry stopped, unsure as to whether or not he should tell Remus what happened next.

"Go on," Remus urged.

"They said that," Harry took a deep breath. "They were talking about a plot to get me. Voldemort said I would be as good as his."

Remus looked away, staring unblinkingly at the wall, deep in thought. Harry suddenly became aware of the throbbing in his scar and rubbed it slightly.

"They killed an old man. The caretaker," Harry continued as Remus continued to think. "Wormtail did it."

Remus slowly met Harry's eyes again.

"You don't think … well, this dream, you don't think it's actually happening do you?" Harry asked, looking pleadingly up at Remus.

"I think it would be unwise for you to dwell on these dreams, Harry," Remus said finally, brushing Harry's fringe away from his face, his eyes lingering on the lightning bolt scar. "Why don't you get dressed and then come and help me sort out the library?" he suggested.

Harry nodded as Remus stood, walking to the door. Before he could leave though, Harry knew there was something he needed to tell him.

"Remus," he began, "during the dream … my scar burned. It's only ever done that around Voldemort."

The werewolf turned around, a slight look of panic sparked in his eyes, before it was gone.

"Nothing can hurt you here, Harry," Remus said, reassuring the teenage boy. "I swear it."

With that, Remus turned around and walked down the stairs, leaving Harry alone.

* * *

An hour later, after Harry had washed and dressed, he and Remus could be found sorting through the Black family library. They didn't talk much as Remus seemed a little preoccupied and though he shot a friendly smile at Harry when their eyes met, Harry wasn't fooled.

He knew Remus was thinking about the dream that Harry had had that morning and he wished he knew what was going on inside the werewolf's head. Pretty soon though, something would distract Remus from his thoughts, if only for a while.

* * *

They had been working for two hours when it happened. Remus was walking over to one of the tables, books stacked high in his arms when he slipped on a book that had been left on the floor.

Harry whipped around, feeling as though everything was happening in slow motion.

"Dad!" Harry called, as Remus tumbled to the floor.

He wasn't sure what had made him say it, but nevertheless he did. That one word that had slipped seemingly of its own accord out of Harry's mouth took both the young boy and the slightly concussed werewolf by surprise.

Harry lost his train of thought though when he saw blood on Remus's nose and rushed over to help.

On the way down, Remus had been unfortunate enough to smack his nose incredibly hard on the corner of the table, resulting in a very broken nose.

"You called me Dad," Remus said softly as Harry knelt down beside him, examining his nose.

Harry felt his cheeks burn slightly and refused to meet Remus' eyes.

"Sorry," Harry began, "It just sort of slipped out."

"Don't apologise, Harry," Remus said, smiling lovingly at the boy. "I could never replace James," he carried on, "but I can be a father to you, Harry. Merlin knows you deserve one."

As Harry finally met Remus' eyes, he was surprised when the werewolf gently grasped the back of Harry's neck and leaned over, roughly kissing the top of his head.

Harry, thinking back on the horrible start that the day had had, thought, _maybe bad beginnings really do make happy endings._


	3. Chapter 3: Hurtful Words

After Remus had magically fixed his nose and after they'd sorted out the library, Sirius decided to take Harry flying. Sirius had clearly sobered up. The aroma of stale alcohol that had previously surrounded him had been replaced by one of coffee and he had changed into clean clothes.

They were having a great time. They were playing a game where they had to see who would get the snitch first. Harry had caught the snitch five times whereas Sirius hadn't caught it once.

During their sixth game, Harry swooped down to the ground, missing the grass by an inch, before grabbing the snitch that was floating close to his Godfather's head.

"Nice one, James!" Sirius called.

Harry immediately froze. He stared unblinkingly at Sirius, who was just realising what he had said.

"Harry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-" Sirius began, attempting to apologise for his slip up.

He was cut off mid-sentence by Harry though, who said, "It's fine. Let's just call it a day. I have some homework I need to get done. I can only imagine what Snape would do to me if I didn't finish it."

Harry laughed at this, but Sirius could tell it was false. Only Harry's eyes betrayed the pain he felt at having been called James by Sirius and as he dismounted his broom and walked inside, Sirius was sure that he caught a glimpse of moisture in his Godson's eyes, before he was gone.

* * *

Remus was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the Daily Prophet and drinking a cup of strong tea. He was thinking about Harry having called him Dad earlier that day. He felt a different range of emotions at this. One part of him didn't want to feel like he was trying to be James, whereas another part was overjoyed. He had never had the chance to be a father and quite frankly he wasn't sure he wanted to be. He could only imagine what would happen if he passed on his condition to his son or daughter. He would never forgive himself.

His internal rant was cut off when Harry came into the kitchen, looking more than a little upset. The teenager put his broom away and made for the door to the hallway, tears in his eyes.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Remus asked, his face betraying nothing but concern.

Harry didn't answer; knowing that if he tried to speak then his voice would shake, but gave a nod before disappearing up the stairs.

Remus stared after him and was wondering whether he should go and talk to the boy, when Sirius came in through the front door wearing a guilty expression on his face. Remus immediately rounded on him.

"What's wrong with Harry?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Sirius said, waving his hand dismissively. "Just a little misunderstanding, that's all."

"It looked like a lot more than a little misunderstanding, Sirius!" Remus shouted. "Tell me, now!"

"Okay, I really messed up," Sirius admitted. "I called him James. It just sort of slipped out, Remus-"

Remus gave an angry, exasperated sigh, before walking out of the room and up the stairs, intent on finding Harry and making sure he was alright.

* * *

Harry walked upstairs, praying for the tears not to fall. How could Sirius have called him James? Did he have any idea how much that hurt? Harry opened the door, walking to collapse down on his bed, a half angry half sad sigh escaping his lips as tears slowly trailed down his face.

Before long, Harry heard the door click open, the sounds of someone walking inside and closing the door behind them.

"Go away, Sirius," Harry said, his voice muffled from where he's buried his face in his pillow.

"Actually," – Harry felt his bed dip as they sat down – "It's me."

Harry lifted his head from his pillow and sat up, "Hi Remus. I thought you were Sirius," he said, giving the werewolf a sheepish smile.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Remus asked.

"I'm fine," he replied unconvincingly.

"No you're not," Remus said, pausing briefly. "Sirius told me what happened. Come on, Harry I know that must have hurt."

"It's fine. I'm fine."

"Stop it, Harry. There's no shame in admitting that you're upset."

"I'm not upset," Harry said, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Yes you are," Remus began, "and there's nothing wrong with that. I would be upset too."

Harry looked up to meet Remus's eyes and the two of them seemed to communicate silently. Harry didn't know who moved first but he had seemed to have collapsed against Remus's chest the moment the man had brought his arms around him.

* * *

Sirius, after putting his broom away and having a shower decided to go and check on Harry. He knew he needed to apologise to his godson for what he said. He was way out of line and he knew it.

Walking to Harry's room and opening the door he was met with a sight that made his heart clench painfully. Harry and Remus were sleeping peacefully, Harry's head on Remus's chest. One of Remus's hands was resting in Harry's hair and the other was wrapped protectively around Harry's back.

Sirius walked quietly forward, taking the yellow blanket off the chair in the corner before draping it over his friend and godson.

As Sirius walked out of the room, leaving Remus and Harry behind, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Jealous that he didn't have that sort of relationship with Harry. He knew that he only had himself to blame. He knew he was behaving stupidly; like a child and he also knew that it had to change. That _he_ had to change.

"I'll change for you, Harry. I promise I will," he mumbled.

Sirius made his Godson a promise, and Sirius knew with all his heart that he would keep it.


	4. Chapter 4: To Make Things Worse

When Remus and Harry finally awoke from their peaceful slumber, they found that it was almost dinner time, and wandered downstairs to the kitchen. It was there that they saw a sight to behold … Sirius cooking. He was making a bit of a mess of it to be fair. A pan filled with pasta was boiling over and several plates lay shattered, their pieces scattered about the hardwood floor.

"What's going on?" Remus asked, never having seen his curly haired friend cook before.

"I thought I'd make dinner. Sit down," Sirius ordered, as he attempted to get the bubbling pan of pasta under control.

He seemed to have yet to come to grips with the oven, and was attempting to control it with magic, waving his wand about furiously in the air and chanting several spells. None of which, it should be noted, seemed to work.

Without further ado, Harry walked over to the hob, reached around his Godfather who was still ungracefully brandishing his wand, and turned the handle, thus lowering the flame. Sirius immediately stopped his ridiculous chanting and simply said, "Ah!"

"So," Harry began, "What's the occasion?"

"Well," Sirius said, removing the pan from the heat and beginning to separate the pasta into separate bowls. "I actually wanted to apologise to you. To both of you."

"Have you been inhaling fumes from my potions kit?" Remus asked sarcastically, looking at his friend with a slight smile on his face.

"Oh, ha ha!" Sirius mocked, covering the pasta with sauce and placing the three bowls on the dining table. "No, I just know how stupid I've been. But I'm gonna make it up to you, just you see.

* * *

Dinner was lovely. This was surprising when one considers that it was Sirius who made it. A man whose previous kitchen episodes were, at best, mediocre. A word which here means, "a swirling vortex of entropy."

That night, after having slept most of the day, Harry decided to get some Potions homework done, and went to sit in the library, hoping to utilise its vast selection of textbooks. Harry was caught off guard when he encountered Sirius amongst the bookshelves, making his way towards the door, clutching a book triumphantly against his chest.

"Oh, Harry!" Sirius exclaimed as the two narrowly avoided a collision around a sharp corner. "What are you doing out of your room?" he asked, taking on an unusually strict, paternal sort of tone.

"I was just looking for a potions book," Harry explained, giving his Godfather a strange and confused look and for the first time glancing at the title of the book that Sirius held in his hands. "The Guide Book to Being the Perfect Parent." Harry looked at Sirius with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, well … Good boy," Sirius said, his voice still taking that uncharacteristic parental edge, that reminded Harry of Remus more than anything else. "Just an hour longer and off to bed then."

After setting his Godson a bedtime, something he had never done before, Sirius reached over and tenderly patted Harry's head, who was looking at him as if to say, "What in the name of sanity is happening," before exiting the library and setting off down the corridor.

"Wow!" Harry breathed, wide eyed and bemused, as he continued searching the shelves for his book, his mind elsewhere.

Harry wasn't the only one to encounter Sirius on his travels that night. Remus also had the privilege of running into his friend that night.

"Remus, you're up!" Sirius said.

"Oh!" Remus began, looking up and down himself. "So I am!" Remus glanced down to the book in his friend's hands, and like Harry, looked back up at Sirius with raised eyebrows. "Should I ask?"

"What?"

"The book," Remus answered, "What are you planning to do? Become the perfect parent overnight?"

"I just want to be a better Godfather to Harry, there's nothing wrong with that is there?"

"No, but … Sirius you won't become the perfect parent by reading that. Harry's not just any kid now is he? He has different needs, different pressures and expectations to the ones discussed in books like that." Remus began, "And anyway, no parent is perfect, Sirius. The only thing we can do is be there for Harry and offer him support and guidance when he needs it."

"Spoken like a true professor," Sirius mocked.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Sirius started, "I just wish I could be as well liked by Harry as you are. I wish I was the one Harry came to for advice."

"Look, Sirius, if this isn't working for you then I can take a step back so you can build a stronger relationship but I won't stop being there for Harry," Remus explained, "I love him, Sirius, like he's my own."

"And I love him too," Sirius said, his voice raising. "You were the one that told me that I needed to buck my ideas up and when I try to do just that, you still complain!"

"I'm not complaining, Sirius, I'm just saying that by turning yourself into a completely different person you're not going to be doing anyone any favours! James would say the same if he were here. He wouldn't want you doing this. Getting drunk every night, being an absolute idiot and then thinking that reading a parenting book is going to automatically fix all your problems!"

"Well James isn't here is he?! And besides, he chose me to be Harry's Godfather, not you. Harry's my responsibility. Not yours!" Sirius shouted, regretting the hurtful words the instant they came out of his mouth.

Remus took a step back, the unkind words cutting sharp as knifes into his heart. "Well start acting like it," Remus commanded, finishing the exchange and walking solemnly away, his heart a little heavier than it was before.


End file.
